THREE THINGS YOU SHOULD NOT MISS!!

Upcoming events I am attending will satisfy what ever mood you might be entertaining.... from funny, amazing and  even educational. Check these out and mark them on your calendar.

Friday May 31st at 6:30pm.

Check out Lisa Sanchez in Temecula at the Wine Country Art Gallery.

DimeStories International is thrilled to add yet another chapter to our family:  DimeStories Temecula.

Hosted by Lisa Sanchez, who says, “What could be better than 3-minute DimeStories in a space full of art in a town full of wine?”

Bring your 3-minute story and join Lisa:

6:30 p.m.,  Friday, May 31
Wine Country Art Gallery
34567 Rancho California Road, Temecula, CA 92592

$5 donation suggested…  and bring a friend!  Listening is fun too!

Here's the link.

http://dimestories.org/news/new-dimestories-in-temecula-next-friday-5312013/

II will be unable to attend this next event because I'm registered at the Santa Barbara Writers Conference, and  I  can tell you I couldn't be more disappointed. I met Kelly McClure-McMahon at a craft fair in the Outdoor Resorts RV Park. 

I have never been to a physic, but today I was enjoying a beautiful California sunshine with my best girlfriends, when, just for fun, we decided to get a physic reading . If I didn't believe, I do now. I don't want to share details. but the experience was out of this world. We talked about my book, COAST TO COAST WITH A CAT AND A GHOST.and she will have my books on sale at Aces Comedy Club in Murrieta Calif. 

Saturday June 8th at 3:00pm 

I am sure you will not regret meeting this incredible woman. She will do Readings, Questions and answers and more!.

You'll laugh and you will cry.

THE ACES COMEDY CLUB

39745 Avenida Acacias, Murrieta, Ca.

951-525-5653

Kelly McClure-McMahon

Kelly is a gifted and funny Psychic-Medium and intuitive, with the ability to see, feel, and communicate with people who have passed away. Her Reunions are astonishingly accurate and detailed. She is a talented intuitive coach, and has helped countless people connect with loved ones and heal their lives. www.whisperfromheaven.com

Last on my calendar is The Santa Barbara Writers Conference, six days of intense writing sense. Speakers, seminars, workshops, panels and pirate workshops. 

June 8th through June 13th.

I attended this event last year and every thing  that has been said about it is true. It is the best of the bestest. Oh well, I doubt if anyone but me has said that.

The Santa Barbara Writers Conference draws the elite crowd and those aspiring to become a part of it. 

Sue Grafton and Elizabeth Berg are a teasing sample of the speakers. Monte Schulz, son of Carl Schultz, coordinates the entire production and he does it flawlessly.  Editors and agents fromThomas Dunne Books/St. Martins Press, NS Bienstock, and Full Circle Literary are others contributing to this powerful lineup. 

www.santabarbarawritersconference.com

Since 1972, the Santa Barbara Writers Conference has been connecting writers with mentors, agents and editors. Every summer, writers in many genres from around the world gather to participate in a magical week of intensive work focused on story, voice, craft, marketing, and networking with fellow writers and publishing professionals.

The conference has hosted a legacy of America's best writers, including Ray Bradbury, William Styron, Eudora Welty, James Michener, Sue Grafton, Charles M. Schulz, Clive Cussler, Fannie Flagg, Elmore Leonard and T.C. Boyle.

Join us this summer for our 41st anniversary, June 8th – 13th 2013, and contribute to this on-going literary legacy.

IN MEMORIAM

Barnaby Conrad
(1922 - 2013)

Barnaby Conrad was not only a writer and the founder of the Santa Barbara Writers Conference, but also a bullfighter, the American vice-consul in Spain, and a successful painter. He mentored and inspired so many over the years, fashioning wings for writers who flew up the ranks of publishing. Author of more than thirty books, his stories remind us to have fun and be, as Barny was once called by a famous radio DJ, "a wild bastard!" Brave is to be Barnaby Conrad: hitch a ride to Hawaii; jump into the bullring. The stories we'd have! The stories we could write. The stories we'll never forget. A man we will never forget. The late Herb Caen said, "They all loved Barnaby because he loved them with a flame that burned clean, true, and unwavering."

Special Thanks to Our Sponsor  

BEST OPENING LINE CONTEST

 I need help!! 

 The Santa Barbara Writers' Conference. www.santabarbarawritersconference.com is offering  free tuition for the  BEST OPENING LINE.

Please help me choose which excerpt from my new book, INVISIBLE HEROES, would be the best entry. 

If one of these were the first lines of the first chapter, which one of these options would most entice you to continue reading?

What is your first choice?

Your second choice?

#1:  He had to call Joanie, had to talk to her, plead his case, suck it up, step off, keep his head down, all the fucking acronyms.  He punched in the number. Going up for report before his bad-ass lieutenant would be easier than what he was about to do.

# 2.    Williams was gone. All that was left was the pinging pieces of metal bulleting against the hummer behind him …and the pink mist.

#3.  “Well it’s not that I have PTSD, but they say the dogs wake you before you even have a nightmare.” Joanie was listening. He pushed on… “We’re a team. Semper Fi! Right? We’ll work it out.” He stopped, took a deep breath. There it was. The pitch for his life.

#4.  Sensing another wave of panic, Masada jumped down from the bed and sat at attention facing the Marine. With hands that hummed with nervous energy, the soldier cupped her head. The canine’s deep brown eyes locked, unblinking onto the vetreran’s moist blue eyes.

#5.  The boy just exploded. Eddie went down. I was thrown back from the blast and staggered. Do you smell that, Masada? I still smell the burning flesh and see the pink mist.”

#6.  Her name was Masada. She was an American Service Dog. She was a professional. She stood ready and would never quit. She would never leave her comrade’s side. Chin to her paws, she lay on the hardwood floor by PFC Bud March, USMC, as he slept in the dark.

#7.  He rolled back onto the mattress and stared at the knots in the log ceiling. The long night passed like all the others – bloodied bodies, heart wrenching memories of comrades dying in his arms, children who didn’t play and, when sleep came, nightmares that woke him and reminded him to stay alert.

#8.  He turned around and looked into his inmate’s eyes. “They should have been waiting for you at the bottom of the stairs when your feet hit the tarmac. They should have helped you come home. I’m sorry.” They turned and focused on Masada lapping up the fresh water.

#9.  Protect my family. He opened his eyes that had only seen the past.  He saw an image in the dresser mirror, a jar head with a gun to his head. It wasn’t a hajji, it wasn’t a stranger. It was PFC Bud March, USMC.

#10.  Like the rockets he fired in Iraq, they hit their mark and extinguished, not someone’s life this time, but a piece of his instead. He was destroying the relationship with Joanie yet couldn’t stop. Everything she did, everything anybody did, pissed him off. They didn’t understand. He didn’t understand.


Don't forget to check out Sportster's blog. http://judyhowardandsportster.blogspot.com/

He is heading up a committee to choose a design for the cover of INVISIBLE HEROES.  He also needs your help . Pass this on to all your veteran  friends and families. Sportster is offering a unique opportunity to be a part of INVISIBLE HEROES.
Go to:http://judyhowardandsportster.blogspot.com/ 

MOTHERS' DAY GIFT

85% OFF!  SAVE  $6.00! 

 ON KINDLES, NOOKS, KOBOS, I-PADS, I-BOOKS, AND SONY READERS.

 FOR A LIMITED TIME $ .99 !!!!!!!

CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW AND USE THIS COUPON CODE WHEN YOU CHECK  OUT.

HK56P

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/304228

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY FROM JUDY AND SPORTSTER.

REMINDER: BOTH BOOKS, COAST TO COAST WITH A CAT AND A GHOST  and GOING HOME WITH A CAT AND A GHOST, WILL SOON BE AVAILABLE AS AUDIO BOOKS.